The Bubble and Beads Tour, October 2010 About This Page:

[DouglasE]

Discovered a misplaced photo from our Upachaya excursion



When Craig had first proposed this trip, I had responded hesitantly pointing out that it was still hurricane season. He had pointed out that it was the end of hurricane season and that it was unlikely that we would be affected by that. A big part of the reason we did the cruise was the low price tag. The reason it had the low price tag was the fact that it was hurricane season. This was the gamble we took when we signed up for the cruise. Prior to departure I was getting reports about the possibility of hurricanes and storms. I would regularly point out what we might expect to Craig. Now that we were facing the consequences of our decisions Craig was a little bit more put out than I was. I had been reading the boards on Cruise Critic and realized the gamble that we had taken. It really helped to develop an appropriate set of expectations before I even stepped foot on board the cruise ship to read those boards. Yes, it was disappointing that we would not be visiting Belize or Costa Maya today. But there are plenty of things to do on a cruise ship on a day at sea.



Wandering aboard the ship











I decided I would go and write in my journal this morning out on deck. I can’t recall what Craig had decided to do. I left and made my way to a low populated area of the Lido deck. As I was making my way I ran into Patty and her family who had staked out a table that was sandwiched between the 24 hour pizza bar and the New World Bar aft on the Lido deck. Patty (cosmocruisin) invited me to sit down and join them. I did just that. We were having a really good time chit chatting with her mother, their mother’s friend Louise, TJ and his wife, Patty’s husband Rick would occasionally pop by. Patty’s mom asked that we start to play a game of cards. I hardly know any card games. Patty’s mom insisted I join in to play and that it would be easy to learn. I tried to beg off and say that I would watch one round and then play. But she was not having that. So I started first with one game to see how things went. Surprisingly, I was able to hold my own. I think with the first game it came down to Patty’s mom and I. Everyone else got eliminated. Then I ended up losing. We played a different card game next. Once again I had to learn the ropes but I was much more willing to give it a go this time. We would bet but using a tin full of altoids instead of money. That’s the type of gambling I can afford! It was so much fun playing cards with this family. We just laughed and laughed. This second game required more memory skills. It was a good thing I hadn’t started to drink yet. It still was morning, remember. Not that that would stop fellow passengers because it’s 5 o’clock somewhere in the world! What an unexpected turn of events that was so much fun.


Patty and Louise





The card playing gang






It got to the point that hours had rolled by and I wanted to check on Craig and see how he was doing. I believe he must have been napping because why else would I expect him to be back in our room? I got back to our room and it was empty and the room had been cleaned by our room steward because the bed had been made. I hardly saw our room steward the entire week, which was fine. It was like the magic elves came and did their thing while we were away. They cleaned our room twice a day. They did their duties once in the morning and then once again in the early evening. Personally, I don’t see the need for that much service. I would have been totally fine with them servicing the room one time per day. That could be a way you could reduce costs of a cruise. Don’t suppose that Carnival would listen to that. I left our room and headed back to rejoin Patty and family. When I return guess who is sitting in my seat? Craig! It’s funny how that all turned out without the use of cell phones or even leaving a note.

Back at the time of our Meet ‘n’ Greet at the start of the cruise when we discovered that the itinerary was changing we figured out that we had to come up with a plan. Originally, on the message boards we had a designated day for a cabin crawl among the Cruise Critic members. We had scheduled it on a day at sea. However, with changes there was the potential that the day might now be a day at a port. I made the executive decision that the next day at sea, whatever day that was, would be the day of the cabin crawl. Today it turned out was going to be that day. What is a cabin crawl? Have you heard of a pub crawl? It’s like that except it is on a ship. The idea is that you get the opportunity to see how the other half lives. You tour around the ship visiting different friends accommodations aboard the vessel. Cruisecritic.com is a public forum. Any one can read those boards. There are some kooky people out there so we had one individual designated to receive via email peoples’ room number and cabin category. Our cabin crawl would start at noon. The thinking is we would have less trouble moving about the ship while everyone was busy eating lunch. Since we all knew when the cabin crawl would take place we could eat before and/or after the crawl. Plus, we have the added advantage of not having to navigate among the hordes as they wandered cluelessly through the South Beach Club and the Grand Buffet. Basically, Patty, Rick, family, Craig and I were already at the meeting spot. You had to pass by our table in order to get to the stairs that went up to the starting spot.

Joy had showed up with the list of people and their rooms. I had decided that the way we should progress through the cabin crawl is by increasing level of accommodations. It is the fairest way to get excited about each others rooms if you start out with an inside category and work your way up to a suite. Can you imagine the “wah-wah” horn of disappointment if you saw an inside after having seen an aft balcony room? While it would mean a bit more work wandering around the ship, it would build the excitement up as we worked our way to see the suite.

I needed to start this cabin crawl business with a beverage. I had forgotten to bring my souvenir plastic drink of the day glass with me. I left it back at the room. The reason why this is so important is because you get a discount if you are just “refilling” your glass with the drink of the day. I think it is something like $1-1.50 less expensive if you bring your own glass. I was not about to cart my a** all the way back to my room for that little bit of money. I just forked over my Sail ‘n’ Sign card. It turned out that today the color of the glass had changed. When we started out the cruise they were clear. Today the glasses were red. It turned out that my little lapse in memory proved fortuitous. Today’s Drink of the Day was the “Bahama Mama”. I’m not sure how Carnival makes them, but a traditional recipe for one is as follows:

Bahama Mama

1 ounce Rum
1/2 ounce Malibu
1/2 ounce Banana Liqueur
1/2 ounce Grenadine
1 ounce Pineapple Juice
1 ounce Orange Juice
Splash of Lemon Lime Soda

As the bartender made my drink, I mapped out the order of the cabin crawl path. Unfortunately, everyone who had signed up to join the cabin crawl did not make it to the starting point. Since I didn’t even belly up to the bar until after noon, I know that we gave plenty of leeway to latecomers. Others were also prepared with their beverages before we began. Drinking was optional. Craig was the designated driver and started the whole process sober.